Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Won’t Affect the Main Story (and Vice Versa)

Elden Ring originally had a different starting point that had players washing up on a beach in Limgrave.

Elden Ring is the gift that just does not stop giving, as every week there's a new discovery, exploit, or item description that has new context due to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC's latest trailer. Last week, there was the revelation that Walking Mausoleums can be pushed around with a certain spell, but this week's is one hell of a find from a dataminer called Sekiro Dubi, who has reconstructed an alternate intro for the game.

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Gme Studio will host a closed beta test for SYNDUALITY: Echo of Ada from March 28 through April 1 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam, the companies announced. Registration is available here: North America / Europe / Japan.

FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki would love to make more games that are as big as Elden Ring, which is sure to be music to the ears of many fans.  

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Dimps will release the fifth season of content for Dragon Ball: The Breakers on February 29, the companies announced. It will add Zamasu and Goku Black as a new double Raider tag team, among other content.

Elden Ring players are flummoxed over FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki's tease that one final secret still exists within the two-year-old game.

A new combat system in ’s DLC will likely change how players approach difficult challenges with bosses and mini-bosses in the additional content for the game. The long-awaited expansion was announced back in February 2023, a year after the base game’s original release. At the time, little information was provided other than the title itself and artwork featuring a blonde character mounted on a Spirit Steed, with an alternative version of the Erdtree far in the distance. Now, more information has been uncovered with the DLC’s gameplay reveal trailer.

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Crafts & Meister will host a Japanese closed network test for the newly announced Gundam Breaker 4 on March 15 and 17 across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch, the companies announced. It will be playable from 11:00 to 12:59, 16:00 to 17:59, and 21:00 to 22:59 JST each day. Users can apply to join the test via this link from now until March 4 at 23:59 JST.

Hidetaka Miyazaki definitively ended any questions about new Elden Ring DLC.

As one of the best-reviewed games of all time and with more than 23 million copies shipped worldwide, Elden Ring has been an enormous success for developer FromSoftware, which means it’s only natural to assume that the studio isn’t going to be done with this IP anytime soon in the near future. However, according to FromSoftware boss and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki, currently, there are no plans in place for a second expansion following the June release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, nor for a full-fledged sequel.

With Shadow of the Erdtree serving as the first paid expansion for Elden Ring (and FromSoftware’s largest yet), many assume it will provide a tougher challenge. It’s a pattern with the developer’s previous expansions, as seen in Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City, Bloodborne: The Old Hunters.

After more than a decade of wowing the industry with its gene-defining Soulslike games, last year, FromSoftware brought the Armored Core franchise back with Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. The mech action title received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, but is the wait for the next game in the series going to be as long as it was for Armored Core 6? That much remains to be seen, but at the very least, the studio has every intention of making more games in the franchise.